Hr. Frederiksen - Colorado Whiskey Edition
Amager Bryghus

 

 

375ml dark green caged and corked bottle purchased from Slowbeer in Melbourne. Shared with Sam.

Pours a deep, dark black, with a very fine, but quite minimal head of ochre brown. Body is heavy and thick, and leaves exceptionally fine carbonation as it's tilted. Some streaky lace forms, which is more than I expected. Overall, it just looks deep, dark and black.

Nose is intense. Big, sweet tannic oak, giving an almost vinous character: certainly a big booziness at least. Underneath this is rich deep blackness laced with sweetness: roasted coffee, dark sweet raspberries, dried dates, burnt toffee, hints of pepper and cherry. It's intense. Very big, very intense.

Taste is lighter and smoother than I was expecting. There's a rounded smooth oakiness to it, but very little of the tannins and spice that I was expecting. Instead, there's just a rich, slightly smoky, somewhat sweet, but somewhat brutal stout, covered by layers of fragrance. Some smooth, rich pepper, whisky, syrup and a faintly floral or perhaps herbal overtone. It's very pleasant indeed.

Feel is boozy, but light and evanescent.

Yeah, this was always going to be a beer I really liked. I'm under no delusions that it had all the potential to be great. But better still was that it fulfilled its potential in spades. The fragrance on the nose was magnificent, but the way it was pulled back to a supple, comforting warmth on the palate was what really makes this so good. Lovely stuff.